(Just checking in- hope alls okay )

The party takes a moment to consider their predecessors, then head back into the halls. They turn to the east and enter a large chamber with a dark pool in the center. Bits of smashed furniture and other debris are scattered about the floor. Hallways lead off to the east and a door lies to the south..

Serena starts to investigate the room with the pool, her arcane hand assisting her, Flappy keeping a lookout for threats.
Investigation: 20 Flappy perception: 7

Banjo walks amid the broken furniture and debris.  He reaches down and touches a piece of... chair?  "Such trauma... it's not a surprise the dead haunt this place."

"Did you know," he continues, "that studies suggest a causal link between incidents of physical violence, battle, death or dismemberment and residual hauntings and or infestations of undead?  And furthermore, that the chances of supernatural phenomena increase another fivefold if the location is either underground, or a castle or other fortification, or a residential property with more than a dozen rooms?  The 'haunted mansion', while a popular and over-stylized trope of the bards, is in fact rooted in empirical fact."

"Yes, just think of all the potential undead we leave in our wake by battling orcs and other denizens of this place as we explore it." Serena says with a small smirk as she continues her investigation. "So, are there any records of monsters returning as ghosts and such then, or is it only us that suffer the risk of staying on as restless dead?" She continues with some curiosity in her voice.

"As a matter of fact, any previously living creature can be raised as an undead.  There are no shortage of accounts of zombified dogs, skeletal horses, and the like.  However, it isn't just that simple.  The more complex undead... ghosts, specters, wights, mummies, etc, etc... they require that the original creature possessed some amount of sentience.  In many cases the very cause of the undead condition is related to some curse, or grievance lingering on after death.  This of course requires that the subject be capable of being aware it had something to hold a grievance over."

"While I have read of spectral dogs, the most accepted scholarly interpretation is that these incidents are actually the result of illusion spells, or in certain rare cases, the summoning of fiends which only took on the appearance of spectral dogs.  It is worth mentioning here that several varieties of demon, by intent or coincidence, can be mistaken for undead, and this has lead to some amount of confusion in the records..".  Banjo will continue speaking on further and further tangents until someone or something causes him to stop.

Serena smiles warmly as she continues her search of the chamber, fully entertained by the gnomes extensive knowledge of all things they came across, having no intention of making him stop, well at least not until she had to have the gnome focusing on other stuff. "So, a sentient goldfish could in theory come back to haunt us all then. Would it be able to float around and leave the water then I suppose?" She asks, teasingly trying to test the limits of the wizards lore on the undead, and goldfish.

As the group roots about this hall, Serena is the first to notice among the refuse, some pieces of parchment, which appear part of a larger collection. The papers seem to have been lain about, almost waiting to be found.

Any with the ability to read dwarvish:

Serena looks at the pieces of parchment she found, making no sense of it and turning them over to Banjo. "Can you read this?" She asks, giving him a curious smile.

((Shall you explore on ...))

[Is comprehend languages still active?  I'm not sure how long has passed in game since it was cast.]

((Banjo cast it as a ritual right before entering the sanctuary... So I would say it is maybe at the tail end of its use at this point... Good for reading these, but will need to recast soon to retain linguistic facility))

Banjo collects the scraps and shares the contents with everyone.

"Very interesting.  It would seem the 'curse' isn't something laid upon the dead by the Orc invaders.  Rather, these notes suggest one of the defenders of this place raised the slain as undead protectors."

He shivers.  "Chilling."

"Indeed, the one writing that would likely be the presence behind the curse Ghared mentioned, which hopefully was that ghost we destroyed in here." Serena says, motioning for Tresvar to move on to finish the team's sweep of this section of the dwarven citadel.

Stealth: 23 Perception: 6 Flappy perception: 14

Tresvar continues sweeping the area for undead, or anything of interest or value.  

((assuming the party continues into the hall to the east, rather than through the door to the south))

The eastern hallway stretches even further into the dark than the shorter one to the west. As far as the party can see, there are 4 doors on the northern side of the hall and 3 on the southern side. Beyond the rows of doors the hallway appears to open out into another dark void to the east. The party stands on the western-most end of this hallway.

Serena motions for Tresvar to start opening the doors, starting with the ones to the north and then those to the south before continuing to explore the dark void to the east.
Unless there are any apparent threats behind a door, Serena would sift through what's inside with her mage hand before continuing.

Investigation: 17

The party searches the northern rooms one by one.

((4 | 2 | 6 | 4 ))

The rooms are all empty save the remains of fallen warriors of opposing bands, broken swords and shields, and much graffiti. Amongst the rubble Serena finds one more semi-precious gem ((3))

Quote from CyberusFaustus >>

The rooms are all empty save the remains of fallen warriors of opposing bands, broken swords and shields, and much graffiti. Amongst the rubble Serena finds one more semi-precious gem ((7))

 A piece of Malachite (opaque striated light and dark green) worth about 10 gp.

From the eastern end of the corridor they can now see another grand hall, a large open courtyard, to the east. Three doors open into it, and a dark pool fills a low stone basin in its center. The chamber is littered with the remains of old warriors. 

Before looking further into it, however the party chooses to search the rooms along the southern wall of the corridor, starting from east to west.

The first door they come to opens easily enough, greeting them with an amazing sight. Having become accustomed to seeing room after room of ruin and despair, the room before them is untouched! Peering in from the door, the party sees that this chamber must once have been the personal quarters of an important dwarf. It is decorated with tapestries and furnished comfortably, although age has taken its toll on the contents. Apparently, the room has not been looted. A beautiful rug covers the center of the floor, and a simple bed and writing desk stand in the southwest corner.